Thursday, January 15, 2004

Still 27 weeks

My mom, who is a maternity nurse, sent me this e-mail today:

Hi Honey, Just read your pregnancy blog and thought I would try to relieve some of your fears. When the newborn went by you in the isolette it was obviously unplugged that is why it is alarming they run on battery for a time but the machine wants to remind the staff to plug it back in. Yes if the baby was in that much distress they have everything in the section or labor room to take care of it and would not move it until some what stable. The doctor covering the babies face was trying not to scare you I presume as it probably was already intubated and that is a scary thing to see on a baby ( that is a tube down its throat). Or by law they have to do it because of the new confidentalality laws. One thing you have to remember even if your baby is premature or has some difficulty at birth the death rate is very low anymore because of the NICU facilities like the one at your hospital. It is always better to deliver in a hospital that has one but even when we transfer our babies to one they normally end up good.

So I was right, Erik was wrong. As usual ;)

Sleeping has gotten to be a huge challenge. It's no longer comfortable to sleep on my back, because it feels like there's a big rock sitting on my stomach. And you're not even advised to sleep on your back when you're pregnant anyway because blood is supposed to flow better when you're on your side, not only to the baby but to your legs, preventing those nasty varicose veins. So on my side it is, and Erik is really helpful, letting me lean against him to provide some back support. But lately as I'm trying to fall asleep on my side the monkey will seem to be pulled down towards that side by gravity, and suddenly she'll stick a foot in my liver or kidney, or maybe it's a little hand, or her head, who knows. The feeling is so startling that I'll gasp and wake Erik up. Then after I finally do fall asleep, after a couple of hours, the hip I'm sleeping on will start hurting. A lot of other women from my iVillage board described this sensation too. No one really understands whether this happens because of the extra weight we're carrying (still only 10 pounds for me) or what. It occurred to me last night that it might be because my pelvic bones have expanded and so my hips are sticking out more; I bet that's why. My rib cage has already expanded so much that when i was trying on bras recently only the 38s felt really comfortable, and i'm usually a 34! It doesn't feel like there's a lot of fat around my ribs.

Going home tomorrow morning for my baby showers and dad's retirement party. Yay! Even besides getting presents, I love showers. I love the girl time and I love that 7-Up and sherbet punch that is often served.